Baking Steel vs. Lodge Cast Iron Pizza. What is better? I've heard both are superior to the pizza stone.

Hi all, late post, but anyone looking into a cast iron for pizza should check out the Victoria 15 inch Dawa. It’s completely flat and works perfect for pizza. I mostly use it as a comal, but you can also use to make crepes and much more.

I now have the steel after 30 years using a stone. I think the steel is better and more versatile since you can use it hit or cold and as a griddle on the stovetop. My crust (Neopolitan style) is crisp and chewy and is much more like a good pizzaria pie.

I've used my Lodge pizza pan for a couple months with great results. I don't preheat it, I form the dough in the pan and bake the pizza at 475 for 10 minutes, turn it and lower the temperature to 425 for another 10 minutes. For an extra crispy delicious crust, I put the pan on the stovetop for another 3 minutes at med. high heat and then let it rest in the pan before cutting (maybe 5 minutes if you can wait that long). My wife says we'll never order pizza for pickup again!

Thanks Laura!! I purchased the lodge cast iron pizza pan and look forward to using it for lots of other things!

Hi Tasha, My name is Laura & I work for Lodge — so I'm a little biased, as you might imagine! I have the Lodge pizza pan, but not a baking steel, and while I've read many great reviews of both products, I can really only speak to the cast iron pan. We definitely recommend preheating the cast iron pizza pan before using it. It takes about 30 minutes to preheat in a 500 degree oven, and a thin pizza will cook in about 4.5 minutes with a well preheated pan. While some people might not prefer the raised ridge around the edge, we haven't found it to be an issue if you use a peel (here's a Cook's Illustrated review of the pizza pan that drew the same conclusion: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1340-cast-iron-pizza-pan). In fact, many people also use this pan for roasting veggies and other baking purposes, and the lip can be helpful for catching the pooling oil. I think in the end it's going to come down to personal preference — both steel and iron have similar and excellent heat retention properties and will cook pizza very well. We've heard great reviews from people using inverted skillets to cook their pizzas on, as well! That's my two-cents! Hope this was helpful. :)

I was thinking about a baking steel as I might want to make larger pizzas, but so far my unglazed quarry tiles from Home Depot still work perfectly. I'll make this upgrade very slowly.

Don't know about the shape, handles etc as described by others of this particular cast iron pizza (aka bread) pan. But I often make pita in my large cast iron frying pan,, stovetop or in oven, and its heat retaing properties work beautifully. And what is pizza but another flatbread with some sauce on top? you could use a LG fryoan either right side up, fior deep dish pizza, or inverted for a thin-crust, lightly sauced one. (I tend to avoid, and recommend you avoid, Single use products as kitchen clutterers.)

Sorry, cooling!

Unfortunately I over think everything. Well I own lots of cast iron and just bought the pizza pan. Will definitely preheat and slide pizza on no problem. The lip and handles won't get in the way. Cook for a couple minutes and done. Btw I like that wire rack idea for cooking! Thanks

I can't speak to the baking steel, as I don't own one. I don't own this specific pizza pan either but I get great results from a Lodge cast iron griddle that I preheat in the oven and use essentially the same way you'd use a steel. My Dad does the same thing with an over-turned cast iron skillet and that works well too. Good luck.

Just from looking at the cast iron pizza pan.
There are a couple of design issues I can see that might be a problem.
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Pro-Logic-P14P3-Pizza-14-inch/dp/B0000E2V3X

It seems people are forming their pizza on this and then putting in the oven--like you'd do with a thin metal cheap pizza pan.

With cast iron I don't see how well that will work with high temp dough mixes...like 00 flour. The top would burn before the cast iron heats up. Maybe you put it on the very lower shelf. It gets good reviews. But I'm just not feeling it.


If you preheat it...those handles would get in the way of deposting a pizza on target with pizza peel.

Frankly. I've taken to using an inverted half sheet pan for pizza. It works great.

The other trick is place the pizza on a wire rack for cooling. That lets air dry it a bit and prevents soggy bottom.
Next I might get a cheap 6 dollar wal-mart pizza pan. (not the non-stick type..just metal, round). And use that.
That's what quite a few pizza places use.
Sometimes I think we over think pizza.

Did you buy it from the website? I can't find them here in Toronto

I've got the steel and have been quite happy with it's performance. It does work better than a stone. I've not used the cast iron.